Masha is so Masha

LOOKS FROM ASIA #2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 14:43:00 +0000

Hello! Check this look of Crystal. What do you think? Personally, I am a big fan of this colorful spring outfit!

Crystal's wearing:

Knit : Taobao

Shirt and bottom: Honeys

Shoes: Tata

Stockings: NEW LOOK

Watches: Daniel Wellington

LOOKS FROM ASIA #1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 10:40:00 +0000

Hello everyone! I hope everything is going great for you. As for me, a lot of things in my life have changed: I left Indonesia, moved to China for new challenges and experiences, found an interesting job and really looking forward to new travels. So far my travel experience in China is yet far from being as exciting as it was in Indonesia.

One of the things I love most about China, is the fashion style of its young people.

Today I would like to share with you the look of my lovely colleague Crystal, whose style I admire a lot. She describes her style as Japanese, Mori girl style. It is preppy and cute, simple and close to nature. I hope you enjoy the photos.

What do you think about Mori girl style? If you like it, you're welcome to share. :)

Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 12:22:00 +0000

Four days, two capitals. I really love my business visa conditions: every 60 days I have to leave Indonesia. So at least every 60 days I have an opportunity to travel. This time we chose Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.

At Kuala Lumpur we stayed only 1 day, and only half-day visiting because of work. So the only visited place was Petronas Tower.

Petronas Tower

Hello

In Bangkok we had more time: working Friday and the weekend all ours. We stayed at Arise hotel at Sukhumvite Soi 26. The location and the quality of the hotel are good. And it’s not expensive – about 30 euros per night.

We started with visiting the tallest building in Thailand Baiyoke Tower II – 84 floor building. The view in the evening was nice, but we made a big mistake by dining in their restaurant. They have 3 buffets with different kitchen. It was very expensive and the food wasn’t good. It’s a real tourist trap and we fell into it. Shame J

But we found a really good pub on the online guide that was very good: Saxophone Pub (1 3/8 Phayathai Road, Victory monument). Drinks are very tasty and not expensive and live music is very good.

Baiyoki Tower II

Spotted.

We had only two days in Bangkok and we wanted to visit the most famous places. So we started the program with Golden Mount (Wat Saket). This temple is situated on the high hill that opens a very nice view on the city.

Golden Mount

After visiting the temple, it started raining, like really raining, like in South East Asia during raining season raining. But it didn’t stop us from taking a River Boat. Fortunately the rain didn’t last too long so we still could enjoy our boating. We even saw several varans on our way.

"It's always sunny after rain"

varan

view on Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn)

Next stop was Wat Pho, one of the largest and oldest temples in Bangkok. It is also famous as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha – the tallest Buddha in the world (~50 meters).

Wat Pho

Reclining Buddha

We also stopped by Wat Intharawihan, a temple complex with a 32-meter-high Buddha. The time we came there, the monks were preparing a ceremony for the next day.

Urban views

Street food

32-meter-high Buddha

Monk preparing the ceremony

The strings connect people to Buddha

Durian fruit

Competition "Run on one leg" Kids having fun

The Grand Palace was our last stop in Bangkok. The current king resides in the other palace, but this one is still used for the official events. In the territory of the Grand Palace there is also Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles. It was prohibited to take pictures, but the exposition is very interesting. You will find a big collection of Queen’s designer ensembles and a lot of other different interesting exhibitions. The price for the museum is included in the price for visiting the Grand Palace.

Details

You are always welcome to leave a comment or email me if you have any questions ;)

Volcanoes weekend: Mount Bromo, Kawah Ijen

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 13:16:00 +0000

Today I will tell you about my last weekend. During 2 days we visited 2 volcanoes, had 2 sleepless nights, numerous hours of driving, hours of trekking and a beautiful experience.

Our first stop was Mount Bromo, located about 4 hours driving from Surabaya, the capital of East Java. Mount Bromo is a part of the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park that covers 800 square kilometres in the centre of East Java.

We stayed at Cemoro Lawang village, the closest village to the volcano, at Budi Jaya homestay (Rp 150 K). Our exploring of Bromo started by the wake up at 2:30 to go see the sunrise. So our guide booked us a jeep (Rp 500 K) to go to Gunung Penanjakan view point. It’s about 45 min ride from the hotel. You also have to pay an entrance fee (Rp 300 K). Before going there, I've read on the Internet that someone walked there, but well, we didn’t take this risk.

It’s also would be better to come a little bit in advance, as there are a lot of tourists and, otherwise, it will be difficult to find a good spot to watch the sunrise. Also put some warm cloths, because it’s really freezing at night and early in the morning. I had to buy a wool scarf to warm up.

After sunrise and enjoying the views of Mount Bromo, we took our jeep to go climbing the Bromo itself to see the crater. At the parking we took horses to get us to the stairs of the volcano.

Waiting for the sunrise and warming up with hot tea

Mount Bromo

View on Cemoro Lawang village

On the way to Mount Bromo

Someone left their love in the crater

Temple

Our next stop Kawah Ijen, volcano of East Java filled with sulfur. It is famous for the most acid lake in the world and the blue flames in the crater that you can see only at night.

So after several hours of driving from Cemoro Lawang, we arrived at our homestay Cartimore (Rp 220 K), located at the coffee plantations Kebun Balawan.

At the hotel we booked a car to drive us at night to the volcano (Rp 300 K), about 1 hour driving. If you want to see the blue flames, you’re better leave from the hotel at 2 am. There is no need to go earlier, because the trekking to the crater starts at 2:45 am. When arrive at the parking, you have to take a local guide (Rp 200 K), and to pay the entrance fee (Rp 30 K). Then starts the most difficult part: you have to walk about 1h30 to the crater: 1 hour of going up and about 20 min flat and 10 min going down to the crater to see the blue flames.

It is very important to wear a mask to protect yourself from the sulfur. Most of guides have gas masks, so you should better ask him to provide you with it, because simple medical face masks have no chance to help you here.

Unfortunately we didn’t have a chance to see the famous acid lake because of the strong fog. Well, saved for the next visit.

Cartimore Hotel

Blue flames

Baskets to carry sulfur

Sulfur in the basket

He sells some souvenirs from sulfur

After Kawah Ijen we took a car to drop us at the airport at Banyuwangi, about 2h ride from Ijen. You have two options to go back to Surabaya: car or plane. First option, it’s about 7-8 hours driving, second option – 2 hours driving to the airport and then 55 min of flight to Surabaya. We paid Rp 400 K per person for our tickets, taking into account that we booked them 2 days before the flight.

On our way to the airport we found plantations Kalibendo (Perkebunan Kalibendo). These are coffee and rubber plantations owned by Chinese origin people. Their owner, very nice woman, made us visit plantations and try the coffee (which was very good by the way). They also have a new project of ecotourism: Ecotourism Perkebunan Kalibendo.

coffee at Perkebunan Kalibendo

coffee grains

The process of getting latex

Coffee plantations

Ecotourism Perkebunan Kalibendo

So it was a very interesting weekend, which ended with a good coffee and some snacks from the owner.

You are very welcome to contact me if you need more information J

Part II: Flores Island and Komodo National Park

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 09:05:00 +0000

Hello! Today I will tell you about the second part of my vacation. After Ubud we took a small plane of Wings Air and we went to Flores Island. First we arrived in a port town Labuan Bajo (about 15 min driving from the airport). We stayed at Bayview Garden Hotel (Rp 400 K per night) - a nice hotel with the beautiful view, well, the name of the hotel talks about itself. Bedrooms in the hotel are air-conditioned and supplied with a dispenser, free tea and coffee. Breakfast is included and has to be ordered the day before on a white board near the entrance. It is delivered to the guest room exactly when requested.

The one more important thing to say about this hotel is that it is located at 60 meters above sea-level and it takes about 7-10 minutes to go down to Labuan Bajo. We, personally, always walked this way, but if you don't want to go up and down all the time, it is better to take a bemo (small bus) for about Rp 2 K.

Despite Labuan Bajo isn't a big town, it has no problem with dining, especially Italian kitchen. We tried 3 Italian restaurants: Mediterraneo, Made in Italy and La Cucina. I definitely advise you Mediterraneo: their Eggplant Parmesan Roulade and Sangria are the must-try.

View on the Labuan Bajo port from Bayview garden Hotel

Labuan Bajo ship

Visiting surroundings of Labuan Bajo

Rainbow

We went to Cunca Rami Waterfall. It is a large waterfall located approximately 35 km east of Labuan Bajo. At the hotel we booked a car for Rp 500 K. The car didn't drive us directly to the waterfall, we had to walk about an hour. Normally you can take an Ojek (motorbike taxi) who will bring you halfway to the waterfall. That day we didn't have a chance. All Ojeks were occupied and we had to walk. Also you have to take a local guide in the village to go to the waterfall. It will cost you about Rp 50 K. He will lead you to the waterfall and wait for you to bring you back.

Cunca Rami Waterfall

Jumping in the water

Toboggans

The next day we went for 4 days to Kanawa Island. It is a small island with beautiful white sand beach. It is a perfect place for snorkeling, diving and exploring the Komodo National Park. You can find a perfect snorkeling area right on the beach: turtles, sharks, sting rays, beautiful corals etc. There are also baby sharks under the pontoon with hammocks.

This is a private island: there is only the hotel on the island Kanawa Beach Resort. It has 18 bungalows, 10 bales and a camping area. The rest of the island is left completely untouched. It is better to book a place on the island in advance. We booked 3 weeks in advance and it was already almost full (and it wasn’t even a high season). So the hotel was out of bungalows and we could only book the bales.

And also be ready that the conditions on the island are a bit wild: an access to electricity from 6 pm to 11 pm; common showers and toilets for those who stay in camping and bales. But the ambiance on the island is so relaxing that you won’t pay attention to it.

During our stay on Kanawa Island we took a boat to go snorkeling (me and Rémi’s dad) and diving (Rémi). One of the impressive spots was Batu Bolong. The colors of the corals and the diversity of fish made us visit this spot 3 times.

Welcome to Kanawa Island

The first thing to see in the morning. View from our Bale

Baby sharks under the pontoon

View from the hammock

Reading before dinner

Sunset

Batu Bolong

Snorkeling in Batu Bolong

Sting ray. Snorkeling, Kanawa Island

Corals of Kanawa Island

Shell. Snorkeling, Kanawa Island

Sea star. Snorkeling, Kanawa Island

After Kanawa Island we took a 4 days cruise to visit Komodo National Park. The crew of the boat was a captain and his 2 sons. This cruise cost us 1 000 000 Rp per person/per night. During this trip we visited a lot of beautiful spots like Batu Bolong (one more time and then one more in the end), Manta point, Pantai Merah (Pink Beach). The name Manta point talks by itself. Here we saw a lot of mantas of different sizes. The biggest one was about 5 meters. I have no words here to describe my feelings. Pantai Merah, or Pink Beach, is called this way because most of the coral on this beach are red and pink. It was a beautiful spot for snorkeling with a lot of beautiful corals and fish, except for one thing: the water was very cold. So, we couldn’t swim there for a long time. We came back there on the next day to see maybe currents would change and the water would be warm, but unfortunately not. But still, this is the must-visit spot.

We also visited Komodo Island itself to do trekking and to see the famous Komodo Dragon. Well yes, we saw it after 2 minutes our trekking started. Then we saw few more during the trekking.

On our cruise boat

Our boat. Overnight stop

View on the bay from the hill

Jumping

Welcome to Komodo National Park

Here it is, Komodo Dragon, walking right on us

So we had to step aside

Bat Island. You can see all these bats at sunset

Still there, but no more bats

Manta Point

Me and Lion Fish

Next step of our vacation was a visit of Kelimutu volcano. To get there we had to take a plane from Lebuan Bajo to Ende. Then we took a car to go to Moni (the village close to volcano). It took us 2 hours and cost Rp 400 K. At the Ende airport we met a Canadian tourist Lia (her father was a fan of Star Wars), who we took with us to discover beautiful Kelimutu volcano. The volcano contains three crater lakes of varying colors. Tiwu Ata Bupu (Lake of Old People) is the westernmost of the three lakes. At the moment it was dark green, but can also be blue. The other two lakes, Tiwu Ko'o Fai Nuwa Muri (Lake of Young Men and Maidens) and Tiwu Ata Polo (Bewitched or Enchanted Lake) are separated by a shared crater wall and were turquois and brown. The lake colors vary on a periodic basis.

To go to the volcano we took a car (about 30 minutes driving form Moni). We woke up at 4 am to see the sun rise. Personally I regretted to wake up so early. The reason is that you go to this volcano to see the lakes. It’s impossible to see the colors when the sun is rising. You can see on my photos that the lakes are covered by the shadow. You can clearly see the lakes after 10 am. So, in my opinion, there is no need to go there so early.

Ricefields on the road to Moni

Banana tree

Cloud covering the mountain

Sunrise at Kelimutu

me and Rémi

Nice cloud

me and Lia

Tiwu Ata Bupu

Tiwu Ko'o Fai Nuwa Muri and Tiwu Ata Polo

Going down to Moni (or jumping down)

Finally we got tired going down. So Rémi asked the police to bring us to the hot spring. As you can see, they couldn't deny.

These nice ladies helped us find the hot springs

Working in the field

Ricefields

Finally found the hot springs

Walking from hot springs to Moni

We met this pregnant creature on the way to Moni

Schoolboys strike the pose

A small waterfall on the way to Moni

Waterfall in Moni

Spider

Local woman and girls sorting rice

Local boy

Lia and a dog

Motherhood

Village

Village celebrating 1 May

Local boy eating rice

Locals. Everybody at this holiday got a pack of rice with some local food

Local girl with her pack of rice

Celebration in the village

Local girls

Very last stop of our vacation was Ankermi on the east of Flores. We stayed for 2 days in Happy Dive Ankermi hotel – bungalows with an oceanview. It cost us Rp 385 K per night. We took a boat for the day to go snorkeling. One of the most interesting spots was Pulau Pangabatang – a small sand island.

Sunset in Ankermi

Pulau Pangabatang

Sunset in Ankermi

Snorkeling. Anemonfish

Some sort of jelly-fish

Find a fish on this photo

Rémi snorkeling

Anemonefish

This is pretty all I wanted to tell you about my holidays in April. If you have any questions, more detailed information, don’t hesitate to leave a comment or email me!

One week in Bali

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 20 May 2014 08:34:00 +0000

Welcome to mashaissomasha.blogspot.com. Today is my very first article on the blog and I would like to tell you about my last vacation. In April I was very lucky to go for 3 weeks holidays with Rémi and his father who came from Toulouse to visit us. We spent a week in Bali and the rest of the trip in the National Komodo Park and Flores Island. But today let’s talk about Bali.

Firs few days we spent in the south of Bali, a surfers’ corner Bingin. We stayed in Kembang Kuning hotel (450K Rp per night, it was not a high season) with beautiful view on the ocean. The Bingin beach is a perfect place for surfers, as for experienced ones and the beginners. Every day we took a motorbike to explore the nearby places such as Uluwatu and Padang Padang beaches and amazing Uluwatu Temple (better go there in the evening to see a sunset).

Kembang Kuning Ocean View Bungalows

"Respect Locals"

in Uluwatu Temple

Our next stop was in Ubud. We stayed in Okawati – nice hotel on the Monkey Road; 5-minute walk from Ubud Palace and Ubud Art Market. The swimming pool was a really useful addition considering it’s very hot in Ubud and there is no ocean.

What I liked most about Ubud is that it’s very cultural, with a lot of galleries, museums, and art shops. I also won’t be the first person to say that the walks in the rice fields are very impressive. To avoid tourists we took motorbikes and went to the north of Ubud (about 30 min ride). As expected, there were only few tourists and later even less when we were walking through the rice fields. And there you always meet locals who ask for donation. It’s pretty annoying to stop every 300 meters to pay, but we decided to continue (the whole 30 minutes ride wasn't in vain instead) and we weren't disappointed. Honestly it was my first walk in the rice fields and I enjoyed it so much. After about 1 hour of walking, we accidentally found a nice hotel with an awesome swimming pool. For only 50K Rp they let us use it. It was such a pleasure after walking under the hot Balinese sun! Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the hotel.

We finished our day in the temple Tirta Empul. It wasn't very easy to find but it's totally worth it.

Okawati hotel

Rice fields

Rice spikes

Offerings in Tirta Empul Temple

Of course it’s not possible to go to Ubud without visiting famous Monkey Forest.

We got the chance to be in Ubud during the Royal Wedding (the grandson of the King of Ubud was getting married). All the city was covered by the congratulations of the newly married couple.

At our last day in Ubud we decided to go to Tegenungan Waterfall (about 40 min ride from Ubud). On our way we accidentally found a Setia Darma House of Masks and Puppets. I would say it is a must visit place in Sukawati (about 15 min ride from Ubud). This is really weird that a nice place like this isn't on the Lonely Planet guide. The museum is composed from several houses. There you can find masks and puppets from different regions in Indonesia. The entry is free, but there is a donation box at the exit.

Setia Darma House of Masks and Puppets

Garuda mask (bird-like creature in Hindu and Buddhist mythology)

Puppets

Sukawati market

People but flowers to create their own offerings (Balinese people put offerings on the ground to appease evil spirits)

Well, this is all I wanted to tell you about my holidays in Bali, very soon I will tell you about the rest of my holidays.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to leave a comment J

See you!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 17 May 2014 04:06:00 +0000

Our hotel Kembang Kuning Ocean View Bungalows, Bingin, Bali